McIlory: Golf without Woods ‘doesn’t bear thinking’

Rory McIlroy has sent a heartwarming message to Tiger Woods following the American's admission that he doesn't know when he will be able to return to the game.

Woods is currently recuperating from back surgery, and speaking ahead of the Hero Honda Challenge appeared to suggest that retirement may not be out of the question, stating: “There's nothing I can look forward to, nothing I can build towards. Where's the light at the end of the tunnel? I don't know.”

McIlroy has often been seen as the player who has replaced Woods at the top of the game. McIlroy took the world number ranking (although that's Jordan Spieth's now), became Nike's new face of golf, and donned the cover of EA Sports' golf game, a spot previously reserved for Woods.

But while there may be rivalry between the pair, there is no doubting that Woods has had a tremendous impact on McIlroy. The Uslterman referred to Woods as his idol, and judging from a Nike commercial made earlier in the year, those were not hollow words…